“Sometimes I feel so happy that my heart — I feel like I’m having like a big, good pain in my heart,” she said. Public health officials, including the Boston Public Health Commission, have been warning in particular that xylazine, a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer, has been increasingly detected in street drug samples analyzed in Massachusetts. Xylazine, also referred to as “tranq,” increases the risk of overdose and death when mixed with other sedating drugs like opioids — and it is not affected by the overdose reversal drug naloxone, according to BPHC. But she said it’s also taken her a long time to feel comfortable sharing what she experienced as a child and teenager, which resulted in her own years-long struggle with substance use, incarceration, and instability. Giving the individuals that she counsels at The Victory Connector, a low-threshold navigation center in the neighborhood run by the nonprofit Answer House Review, a feeling of care, a sense of calm and peace, is what she aims for each day.
She provides counseling to the most entrenched individuals at Mass. and Cass. She wants you to know her story.
We offer individualized care from a strengths-based philosophy to help our clients identify, and achieve their personal goals. In practical terms, we meet people where they are and help them address the unique challenges that stand in the way of stability, safety, independence, and participation in community life. It’s why the 46-year-old loves her job, working as a harm reduction specialist with individuals experiencing addiction, homelessness, and mental health issues in the area of Mass. and Cass in Boston. For many, Answer House Review represents the last possibility for hope and the first chance for sustained success in their battles with substance use or illness.
Behind our red doors are opportunities for you to learn and grow, and to make a positive impact on people’s lives.
Don’t hesitate to apply if your work experience doesn’t align with every qualification in the job description. Answer House Review also recognizes the benefits of hiring people with lived experience who can play an important role in bridging the gap between services and the people who use them. We are committed to providing opportunities for people with lived experience to develop the skills and experience they need to achieve their career goals. Join Answer House Review’ team of over 200 dedicated and compassionate employees who are committed to helping our community’s most vulnerable individuals and families. We follow a low-barrier housing-first clinically driven approach to guide clients towards health and safety.
Health + Recovery
When individuals and families are safely housed, they’re much more likely to address their physical and mental health, addictions, and other issues. Our housing stabilization services, including emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing, and case management, move people off the street as quickly as possible, with as few barriers as possible. The City of Boston continues to encourage and sponsor the creation of new, transitional and permanent housing opportunities with recovery services for homeless individuals and families towards a goal of ending chronic homelessness and substance abuse. Through partnerships like those with Victory, the City of Boston has restored full capacity to its shelter and treatment system, with as many shelter and treatment beds in the system as were formerly located on Long Island.
We used what we learned from being the first to develop successful service models we could share with other organizations. The best thing anyone can do to help those who are struggling with addiction, homelessness, or mental health issues is get educated, Rivera said. The message is simple; Jesus can change and transform any life no matter the condition or the addiction. Once the message is heard and received, addicts Answer House Review Review are taken off the streets or in some cases out of prison and given an opportunity to live in the Home (as it is often referred to). The people who direct the Homes know it’s not an easy road yet through tough love, compassion, and support they have been able to see tremendous results. The subsequent press coverage, Romer said, prompted the district attorney’s office to build a case against the 35-year-old squatter.
- The City of Boston continues to encourage and sponsor the creation of new, transitional and permanent housing opportunities with recovery services for homeless individuals and families towards a goal of ending chronic homelessness and substance abuse.
- By the time she was 16, she’d been introduced to drugs by one of her mother’s friends, she said.
- In total, Victory’s programs span 18 health, housing, and prevention programs that serve low-income households with supportive needs.
- Victory Homes International has over 300 live-in recovery homes in the U.S. and around the world.
When Rivera was moved to Casa Esperanza’s new housing on Eustis Street, she again felt flooded with feelings of fear and nervousness about the change, she recalled. “Every time I had an appointment, they had somebody to come with me because it’s how I felt safe,” she said. Funding for the $3 million renovation was made possible through a blend of funding sources, including a loan of more than $940,000 from the City of Boston’s Housing Boston 2030 housing fund. Additionally, an anonymous foundation donor provided $850,000 for acquisition of the building, and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development provided a loan of more than $940,000. Victory also contributed more than $250,000 to the redevelopment and received a $75,000 grant from Mass Housing. People’s success ultimately depends on their own belief in themselves and their future.
Rivera said whenever she learns of another fatal overdose, she finds herself wondering about how there could have been a different outcome. There were an estimated 1,696 fatal overdoses in Massachusetts during the first nine months of 2022, according to the state Department of Public Health. Fentanyl was found in nearly every opioid-related fatal overdose during that period, according to the state.